Flooring



MarchZO, 1934. s. D, BUTTERwoRTH 1,951,955

FLOORING Filed Feb. 6, 1931 lwimmlunlwlmlllnul lwww?W 'i I l H IVENTORV,SAMUEL n. BUTTERWORTH A TTORNE YS.

Patented Mar. 2Q, 1934 terrier FLOORING Samuel D. Butterworth,

Detroit, Mich., assigner of one-half to Josephine M. Butterworth, De-

troit, Mich., and one-halt' to Gable, S. C. Application February 6,

4. Claims.

This invention relates to flooring and has to do particularly with afloor Which embodies a ller or cushion element. More particularly, theinvention is concerned with the provision of a filler or cushioningelement dispose-d between the base or structural door support and thefloor surface element or elements which may form the exposed surface.The floor surface may be of Wood either in strip of tile form or offabric such as carpet or the like. The ller is disposed underneath theexposed flooring and is arranged to accommodate for irregularities inthe underlying structural floor support and also to give a cushioning orqueting effect, especially Where the surfece is of hard material such aswood or other tiling.

More especially the invention is directed towards a filleradvantageously constructed of fiber board embodying preferably acorrugated formation which functions in the silencing action and has thefunction of accommodating for irregularities.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a more or less diagrammatic view and illustration of a floorcomposed of tile with the filler between the tile and the underlyingfloor support.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View and illustration of the use of the fiberboard filler With the fabric surface member or carpet.

The tile floor such as shown in Fig. l may be made of Wooden blocks laidin end grain manner, that is, with the grain disposed vertically. Withthe present invention such a Wood floor advantageously may ne laid upwith concrete structural flooring such as is ordinarily employed inmodern steel and concrete buildings.

A conventional concrete flooring of a modern steel and concrete buildingis referenced 5 and the Wooden flooring may be merely floated upon theconcrete with no means of attachment thereto. The Wooden tile pieces maybe secured together as by means of corrugated metallic tying members 6which may be driven into two adjoining tiles. Of course the flooring maybe laid upon a base of Wood or other material, and it may be bonded tothe base if desired rather than floating it on the base.

t is appreciated that the surface of a concrete floor, while being levelin general, possesses a more or less pitted or irregular surface, asillustrated in Fig. 2. Accordingly, it is preferable to place a fillerbetween the wooden floor and the concrete of the base for the purpose ofabsorbing C. P. Gable,

1931, Serial No. 513,969

(Cl. 2li-7) such irregularities. This filler may be in the form of paperor composition board, and as shown in Fig. 2 the filler is in the forniof paper board he ig exterior facings 'l and 8 with an interiorcorrugated member 9. This filler is more or less distortabie andaccommodates for irregularities in the concrete and also acts as asilencer.

It is important to note that the filler used between the floor base andthe wearing part of the door can be of relatively cheap fiber boardconstruction. Preferably the exterior layer 9 is of relatively lightconstuction to permitthe iiller to adjust itself to the irregularitiesin the base, as clearly shown in Figs. l and 2. The layer 7,

however, may advantageously be of thicker material and accordinglystronger and stiffer. The interior corrugated member 8 distorts somewhatat the corrugatlons which lie over a rise in the floor, and the llerprovides a permanent air cushion between the base and the Wearing partof the iioor. It is preferable that one or both of the exterior layers 7and 9 be Water-proofed. This prevents moisture in any appreciabledegree'from getting into the corrugated layer 8. Thus'the corrugatedmember possesses a long life and forms ooring which is more or essresilient. In other` Words, when Weight is on the oor, the corrugatedportions are compressed or attened out slightly, but this Weight isdistributed over an area suicient to prevent complete collapsing ordestruction of the corrugated portions. These corrugated portions mayspring back in place When the weight is relieved from the floor.

This fiber board insert is also advantageous, for use With the floorsother than Wood. For example, in Fig. 3, there is shown a floor whereina fabric carpet 1G is laid over the ber board insert. It Vhas been thepractice in many places to lay a thick felt pad underneath thesecarpets, but this is very expensive and allows the carpet to Wrinkle andfold so that it is difficult to make the carpet lie flat. Bythe use ofthis fiber board insert, however, the same hugs the door base and is notsubject to folding or Wrinkling and at the same time the insert isrelatively cheap. This insert Will provide an air cushion for theflooring and the corrugated inner member Will stand up under a longperiod of use, especially when the exterior layers are Water-prooi" toprevent moisture from softening the inner corrugated meniber. fn some ofthe claims appended hereto use is of the term surface member of thefloor and this term is understood to cover any floorcovering, whether itbe wood, carpet or other material.

Such a floor is not only economical due to the ber board insert ascompared to the more eX- pensive felt but it may be relatively easilyand quickly laid. The ller end surface member may be floated upon theunderlying floor base and by this we mean merely laid thereon with themeans of attachment. On the other hand, the floor may be more or lessbonded as for example: The fiber board filler may be applied to theunderlying floor base by the use of a suitable mastic applied either hotor cold and likewise the surface member may be attached to thecorrugated fiber board filler by the use of a suitable mastic. In otherwords, mastic may be used between the concrete 5 and outer surface 9and/or between the surface 3 and facing strip 7. The mastic may be usedin either one or both of these locations. The mastic referred to may beany substance suitable for the purpose such as pitch or asphalt.

I claim:

l. A flooring comprising a base, an exposed member providing a wearingsurface supported by the base, a fiber board filler between the base andsupport consisting of an inner corrugated member dispose betweenexterior sheet-like members, said sheet-like members being waterprcofedto prevent access of moisture to the corrugated. member, the saidsheet-like member next adjacent the base being relatively flexible toadjust itself to irregularities in the base and the said sheet membernext adjacent the exterior wearing member being relatively stiif so asto remain substantially non-distorted when the filler adjusts itself toirregularities in the base.

2. A floor structure comprising in combination, a base floor of concreteor the like presenting a continuous supporting surface and which surfaceis subject to irregularities, an intermediate member comprising acorrugated fiber board, upper and lower fibrous sheetsbetween which thecorrugated brous board is positioned, the

lower fibrous sheet resting immediately upon the base floor and beingadapted to substantially adjust itself to irregularities in the basefloor, and a surfacing comprising tile members positioned edge to edgeand resting upon the upper fibrous sheet, said upper brous sheet beingof such stiffness as to distribute a load widely over a plurality ofsaid corrugations whereby a substantially level support for the tile isprovided.

3. A iioor structure comprising in combination, a base floor of concreteor the like presenting a continuous supporting surface and which surfaceis subject to irregularities, an intermediate member comprising acorrugated fiber board, upper and lower iibrous sheets between which thecorrugated brous board is positioned, the lower fibrous sheet restingimmediately upon the base floor, said lower fibrous sheet beingrelatively flexible so that it may substantially adjust itself toirregularities in the base, and a surfacing comprising tile memberspositioned edge to edge and resting upon the upper fibrous sheet, saidupper fibrous sheet being relatively stiff so as to distribute a loadwidely over a plurality of corrugations whereby a substantially levelsupport for the tile is provided.

4. A floor structure comprising in combination, a base floor of concreteor the like presenting a continuous supporting surface and which surfaceis subject to irregularities, an intermediate member comprising acorrugated fiber board, upper and lower fibrous sheets between which thecorrugated fibrous board is positioned, the lower fibrous sheet restingimmediately upon the base floor and being adapted to substantiallyadjust itself to irregularities in the base floor, and a non-rigidsurfacing resting upon the upper fibrous sheet, said upper fibrous sheetbeing relatively stiff as compared to the lower fibrous sheet so as todistribute a load widely over a plurality of said corrugations whereby asubstantially level support for the surfacing is provided.

SAMUEL D. BUTTERWORTH.

